Phenomenal Ford Crucial to Defeating New Zealand

In November 2024, England fly-half Ford looked disheartened on the Allianz Stadium turf.

Ford had been summoned off the sidelines to help England close out a famous win facing the Kiwis, yet missed a late penalty plus a drop-goal attempt while his team were beaten in a close contest.

In the wake of those pivotal failures, the player was required to strive to get another shot at delivering glory for England.

His playing time was limited to 25 minutes during this year's Six Nations yet multiple excellent displays, notably in the warm-weather tour against Argentina and the USA when the Smith players were away on British and Irish Lions duty, put him firmly back as a starting option.

The veteran player not only repaid Steve Borthwick's faith in starting him versus New Zealand, plus the club standout delivered a player-of-the-match performance to assist England to a breakthrough triumph against the All Blacks in their own stadium since 2012.

The pivotal moment in the game Ford converted two drop-goals in succession immediately preceding halftime.

It helped England recover from 12-0 down to trail 12-11 when the half ended, before Borthwick's star-studded bench once more performed during the final period to support England to a comfortable 33-19 triumph.

"Recognition should be offered to the senior players within our side, notably George," the manager commented. "In that moment where he hit those drop-kicks, he managed the game just incredibly.

"One year earlier I believed Ford came on and played very effectively [facing the Kiwis].

"A kick hit the post while he attempted a drop-goal under pressure, but he played really well.

"He is a phenomenal leader, a brilliant player and an even better person. We are privileged to have him on our team."

Drop-goals 'part of the strategy'

New Zealand started quickly in the stadium, racing into a twelve-point advantage with tries by two key players.

Subsequent to Ollie Lawrence's impressive score, Ford's consecutive three-pointers ensured England returned to the locker room with renewed energy.

"The challenging thing during those periods comes when the board shows a twelve-point deficit, we must maintain to our strategy and what we believe the optimal approach to perform is," Ford stated.

"We fought our way back into the game and we recognized were we to commence the final period strongly, as reserves joined, we would be in a good position.

"Although facing a quarter-hour remaining, we ended up near our try line after a penalty, thus we encountered obstacles in that instance too.

"I believe this illustrates elite competition requires - who can deal during those situations superiorly."

The two attempts happened within close succession while the number 10 who successfully converted three drop-goals in a successful match against Argentina at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, displayed his complete century of caps experience.

Ford successfully executed two three-pointers with Sale in a league contest occurring during tough circumstances against Bath - this represents an ability he has mastered thoroughly.

"It [the drop-goals] is always in the plan," Ford added.

"Borthwick represents an outstanding manager since he continually in my ear about it, and appropriately since three points are crucial at any stage of play."

Ford guided his side brilliantly throughout the match the entire match, making smart decisions - for both attacking and defensive purposes and locating gaps behind the visitors' backfield.

His characteristic 'spiral bomb' also bamboozled the New Zealand player, who couldn't collect.

After beginning England's win over Australia during the autumn series, Ford passed on the fly-half position to the younger Smith during the Fiji match seven days later.

But the biggest test on paper this autumn occurred versus the experienced New Zealand team, so Ford returned to his position.

The English team, presently maintaining ten consecutive victories, meet Argentina in late November creating intrigue to determine if the manager opts with the alternative or continues with Ford.

Whatever choice occurs, Ford established two years away prior to global competition that ample opportunity of rugby left within him.